Never in doubt

Despite cries of “oh, no…here we go again” as Armando Benitez took to the mound to try and preserve a 3-2 Giants win over the Angels on Tuesday night, the closer looked like the man the Giants are paying $21.5 million to do just that job.

Benitiz, who has a running feud going with Giants fans, mowed the Angels down in the ninth, getting the always dangerous Vladimir Guerrero to flail away at a low-and-away slider to strike out and end the game.

It marked the second save in two nights for the much-maligned reliever and kept the Giants right where they want to be — in the middle of the wacky NL chase: the Padres (37-33) one game ahead of the Dodgers (36-34) and 1 1/2 ahead of the Giants, Diamondbacks and Rockies, all of whom have 36-35 records.

In today’s series finale at the local ballyard, here’s hoping that if Noah Lowry can’t go all the way or the Giants can’t get a big lead, Benitez will once again be called upon to try and silence his critics. And, oh yes, preserve another victory.